The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided in this application is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
Past attempts to develop improved parking assistance devices have failed to account for advances in technology. The most common parking assistant device is simply a tennis ball dangling from a string: when a person pulls their car into a garage, the driver stops when the tennis ball contacts the windshield. This utterly fails to account for improvements in technology that can create a more robust system using low-cost electronics.
Some have attempted to develop new solutions by creating, for example, products that rest on the floor of a parking space. These floor-bound solutions include a bump that, when the vehicle contacts the bump, the driver knows that the vehicle is properly positioned (i.e., it is safe to close a garage door).
Others have developed mechanical improvements to the classic string and tennis ball implementation. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,636A to Crouch describes a dangling tennis ball device that, instead of dangling the ball from a ceiling, the ball dangles from a support structure that is integral to the device. The device is floor based, but nevertheless is a purely mechanical solution. Crouch therefore fails to take advantage of electronics.
In some instances, electronics are incorporated into a device that rests on a floor. In one example, a stop sign on an elongated pole lights up when a vehicle contacts the pole. In this device, the lights are activated by a switching mechanism, where the switch is activated by a vehicle's bumper when it contacts the pole. But this device fails to appreciate advances in electronics technology that can produce much more reliable devices.
These and all other extrinsic materials discussed in this application are incorporated by reference in their entirety. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided in this application, the definition of that term provided in this application applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
Thus, there is still a need in the art for an improved parking assistance device.